


An Honest Mistake

by acebertholdt



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, F/M, Minor Levi/Erwin Smith, hugged the wrong person AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-05-31
Updated: 2014-05-31
Packaged: 2018-01-27 19:23:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,013
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1719797
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/acebertholdt/pseuds/acebertholdt
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Hanji hugs Erwin from behind, only to discover that it was definitely not Erwin.</p>
            </blockquote>





	An Honest Mistake

**Author's Note:**

> for buntaichouhangezoe on tumblr

Hanji could have sworn Erwin had said 11:30.

Wait, shit, no. Maybe she was just thinking of 11:30 because that's what time Bio 3600 started, and she had been late to that class every day the previous week. And the week before, if Hanji wanted to go there. Which she didn't. Okay, yeah, that was it. Bio 3600 was at 11:30. Well then what the hell was she doing _here_ at 11:30?

Of course, the theoretical answer was meeting Erwin Smith for lunch. It had been a stressful week for the two of them, Erwin having had a major test and Hanji having had turned two projects in at precisely 11:59 pm the day before their due dates, so Hanji had suggested that they grab lunch on Saturday to catch up and unwind. Erwin had agreed eagerly, and they parted ways, promising to meet one other in the food court of the mall just south of campus at the time Erwin had suggested.

The only problem was that Hanji couldn't... quite remember what time that was.

_Think, Hanji, think,_ she thought to herself. What exactly had Erwin said?

_"Oh, of course!"_ She could hear that much clearly in her head. It was said with such typical Erwin Smith enthusiasm, how could she forget? _"I'd love to. It'll have to be lunch, because I'm taking Levi to dinner. Did you have a time in mind?"_

Yeah, it was coming back to her now. And then she had said...

_"Nah, not really. Whenever's good for you."_

He had smiled at her then, a wide, genuine Erwin smile. _"Ah, well I guess I could do..."_

Right. And that's where things started to get fuzzy. So much for photographic memory. Well, she had 11:30 in her head for some reason (even if that reason was her genetics lab) and she was already at the mall (even if it wasn't the right time) so she might as well look around for Erwin...

Hanji was disturbed from her thoughts by a sharp jab to the shoulder. She looked up to find herself surrounded by people, the single stationary person in a mass of swarming customers. She glanced at her watch. _11:27._ Well, that would be the lunch crowd. Looking for Erwin just got a lot more difficult.

It was a good thing Erwin was so tall. And so blond. Hanji could just scan the food court for enormous, blond beacons of light. She chuckled--that was a pretty good description of Erwin. Shit, she was funny. She could probably do stand-up if she weren't planning on going to med school. Hanji was just about to pull out her phone and change Erwin's contact name to "enormous blond beacon" when she was interrupted by another harsh shove.

Oh. That's right. Hanji was standing in the middle of a crowded food court during the lunch rush. She must have been just standing there five, maybe ten minutes, and she was clearly starting to piss people off. Starting off in a randomly chosen direction, Hanji tried to bump into as few people as possible while still scanning the area for signs of her big, blond lunch date.

_If I were a giant gay nerd,_ Hanji thought to herself, _where would I go?_ Wait... of course. She couldn't believe she hadn't thought of it before. Erwin had a probably terminal coffee addiction, despite him generally being a health nut and the only person Hanji currently knew who used the word "flaxseed" daily. Of course he'd be at Starbucks. That asshole was probably already in line to get his chai tea latte while Hanji pushed through legions of shambling, hungry mall-goers looking for him.

Hanji ducked, swerved, dodged, and even stepped over someone's purse making her way through the throngs of people to the other end of the food court. She was almost knocked over at one point by some guy that, for a second, she mistook for Erwin. Not-Erwin was certainly huge and blond, but after a moment Hanji noticed that he was dragging behind him an even more colossal guy by the hand. Shit, he was almost as big as Mike. What were they _feeding_ the gay men in this town!? Hanji was so distracted by the massive couple that she didn't notice she was walking into the person in front of her, and received an angry, "Watch it!" and a rough shove that knocked her glasses askew.

By the time she had made her way out of the crowd, Hanji was frustrated, claustrophobic, and nearly ready to text Erwin to ask where the hell he was. She tightened her ponytail, which was now sagging toward the base of her neck, and scanned the Starbucks line in front of her.

Ah-ha. Hanji was right. There he was: tall, blond, wearing a peacoat and a knit scarf. _Definitely Erwin_ , she thought to herself. No one else looked that much like an H&M model in real life. His back was turned to her (probably spacing out or daydreaming about Levi, Hanji thought), and suddenly, she had the best idea.

_Bet he's not expecting a running hug from behind_ , Hanji thought, snickering to herself. He'd be so surprised, maybe he'd even scream, and Hanji could laugh at him and Tweet about it later. Looking around to make sure she had room, Hanji prepared herself and, before she could have second thoughts, started running.

The realization that the man Hanji was currently hugging was not Erwin didn't come immediately. Not when she was running. Not when she half-leaped onto the man's back. Not when she wrapped her arms around his waist and buried her face in his neck. The realization came when Hanji's hug was met with what can only be described as a girlish shriek.

_Shit_ , Hanji thought. _This is_ not _Erwin._

And as the man was not Erwin Smith, he wasn't strong enough to withstand the force of Hanji's running jump, and, predictably, the pair crashed to the floor. Hanji crawled off the poor guy, nearly screaming apologies at him and rubbing her palms, which were aching where she'd braced herself against the sticky mall tile. Slowly, the man Hanji had jumped on brought himself to his knees and turned around, lifting his head to her.

Fuck. Hanji took in a breath. He wasn't Erwin, but he was cute as _hell_. Big, sweet brown eyes, a button nose. Now that Hanji was closer, she noted that his hair was darker than Erwin's. How had she mistaken him for Erwin Smith? While Erwin was all sharp angles and masculinity, looking more like Captain America than a college student, this guy was just precious. _Oh god_ , Hanji thought, _I knocked over a puppy._

After a minute or so, Hanji realized she was staring.

"Shit, shit, shit, shit, are you okay!?" She let out another litany of "shit"s when the guy lifted his palm in a gesture for her to stop, revealing his badly scraped hand. "Oh, dude, I'm so sorry, I thought you were someone else and I--"

"I-it's okay," he stammered, crawling backwards on his hands, away from the line of people who were now staring at the two of them. He started reaching for a sketchbook by his feet, one that he'd evidently dropped from the impact. "I'll just--"

"No." Hanji grabbed his wrist. "I'm pre-med, let me look, okay?" When he nodded and she began inspecting his bloodied palm, Hanji apologized again. "Man, I'm so sorry. It's just, from a distance, you looked _just_ like my friend."

Surprisingly, the guy smiled. Shit, he was _so_ cute. "I-it's really okay, I was actually just--"

"Oh, wait, I think I have some something for this in my bag," Hanji interrupted. "Sorry, go on?" He only shook his head, while she began rummaging through her messenger bag.

"Ah-ha!" Hanji announced, having found some Neosporin and a bandage. "You're not allergic to bacitracin, are you?"

When he shook his head again, Hanji began applying the greasy ointment, and the two sat in uncomfortable silence for a few moments.

"Um," he began quietly. Hanji's eyes darted up to his face, which now wore a shy grin. Cute. "You said you were pre-med? Do you go to Trost?"

"Yeah," Hanji told him, trying to keep the Band-aid from sticking to her own skin before placing it on the man's wound. "Do you?"

The man nodded enthusiastically. "I'm a Fine Arts major," he explained, gesturing to the sketchbook with his uninjured hand.

"Ah," Hanji mused, "guess that's why I've never seen you around before." She finished smoothing out the bandage and released the man's hand, which hung there uncomfortably for a second or two afterwards. "I'm Hanji, by the way."

"Moblit," he replied quietly, as if it were unimportant.

As if simultaneously realizing that they were sitting in the middle of the food court floor, the pair began to stand up. Hanji reached out to pick up Moblit's sketchbook, and realized it had fallen open to a page that was marked with his pencil.

"Oh!" Moblit turned bright pink and reached to beat Hanji to the sketchbook, but he only made their hands brush awkwardly, and he jerked his away. "That's, uh..."

The sketchbook was open to a rough pencil sketch. It was the bust of a person who seemed to be deep in thought. The sketch only sported one eye, and the back of the ponytail was missing, but the resemblance was clear--it was a sketch of Hanji.

"Is that--" Hanji began, unsure of what to say.

At that point, Moblit was a shade of red that Hanji didn't realize was possible. He straightened himself up, pulling the sketchbook close to his chest. "I, um, the line was long, and I sketch when I'm bored. You moved before I could do the right eye." He looked at his feet, clearly mortified.

Jesus Christ, he was adorable. Hanji straightened herself up, and shook her head. "No, no, it's... it's actually really good. Most people have a hard time with my nose." She tapped the bridge of her nose thoughtfully and chuckled, trying to lighten the heavy atmosphere between them.

Moblit looked up at Hanji with wide, brown eyes, still pink across his cheeks. "Really?" He laughed nervously. "If I had known you were going to see it, I would have cleaned up the lines a little, maybe added some... cross... hatching..." He drifted off and rubbed the back of his neck anxiously.

Hanji hadn't really heard him, honestly. Moblit seemed to be one of those people who had no fucking clue how cute they were being.

"So, uh," he began again, "you said you thought I was a friend of yours? Were you meeting them here, or...?"

_Yes, yes, please, Jesus, ask me out,_ Hanji was thinking, but before she could throw herself at the poor guy, she felt a vibration against her thigh. Shit, that was probably Erwin.

"Uh, just a moment," Hanji said. _Don't you dare walk away, you adorable little shit._ Taking it out, she discovered that it was, indeed, Erwin.

Erwin Smith: Omw. 12, right?

12:00. Of course, he had said 12:00. Not 11:30. Why the _hell_ did she think he had said 11:30!? Whatever, it didn't matter now.

Hanji Zoe: uhh is it cool if we make that 1?? smth came up

The response was almost immediate.

Erwin Smith: Sure, that's fine. I wanted to grab a few fall basics at H&M anyway.

Hanji rolled her eyes and slid her phone back in her jeans pocket, finally answering the patiently-waiting Moblit. "Nah, just thought you might have been him. So, uh, you got an hour? Why don't you let me make up for knocking you on your ass by buying you coffee?"

When Moblit nodded and smiled that sweet, shy smile again, Hanji mentally thanked Erwin's vanity and her own forgetfulness. And for the first, but not the last time, she was grateful that Bio 3600 was at 11:30.

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you liked it! This is re-posted from my tumblr. More updates for my writing will be posted there, at acebertholdt.tumblr.com


End file.
